09-18-2020
Pundits struggle to find the right analogy to describe our political dilemma. One might be a well-known nursery rhyme. Humpty Dumpty. No, I am not referring to the current fragile, thin-skinned occupant of the White House, though it would be easy to see Donald Trump as the anthropomorphic, egg-shaped character of children’s books. Humpty Dumpty for me is the United States.
The history of the United States, from well before its establishment, has been a balancing act of controversy and even conflict over government, rights, economy, and culture. The nation was founded in large part on the removal and decimation of first inhabitants and the capture and enslavement of Africans. Capitalism, a system premised on balancing self-interest and greed, was blended in this country with mainly protestant religious views, and strong sense of white superiority.
Just like Humpty, our country is a sitting precariously on a wall. But our wall is not a support wall, but a divider between darkness and light. The growth of partisanship and particularly the public ascent of the radical right augur an inevitable crisis. Up-coming election may answer on which side we fall.
© 2020, Kenneth Koziol. All rights reserved.
